How 2 Train Heroes?

Coach Woodenism for the Week: "Practice self control and keep emotions under control - good judgement and commonsense are essential." In this series, we're applying Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success to medical education. We began by discussing the foundation of Attitude and Effort, followed by Friendship, Loyalty, and Cooperation. To Coach Wooden, this foundation develops from the heart and the spirit. But the second row focuses on the mind, particularly the next building block of success, Self Control. Self Control is fundamental to the practice of medicine, particularly in the Emergency Department. A clinician may walk out of one room after repairing a simple laceration, then walk into a cardiac arrest in the next. In dynamic environments, the clinician demonstrating self control is always proactive, not reactive. Although "Be proactive..." is the first of Covey's Seven Habits, the term was best defined by Victor Frankl, an Austrian Neurops...

Coach Woodenism for the Week: "As a leader you must be more concerned with what's right, rather than who is right." In this series, we're applying Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success to medical education. As coaches and trainees, we began by discussing the foundation cornerstones of Attitude and Effort, followed by Friendship and Loyalty. The final block in the pyramid's foundation is Cooperation, defined simply as the process of working together to achieve a common goal. Technological innovation is driving rapid transformation in both education and leadership. Yet the fundamentals taught in Coach's Pyramid Success remain more important than ever. Yesterday's top down leader set their own course for an organization and discouraged discussion. This dictator's approach may create limited short term success even now. But sustained long term success always requires a different paradigm. Today's horizontal leader purposefully question...

Want to increase trainee interest and retention of key concepts? Make learning a game. The Press Play episode of the TED Radio Hour by NPR provides a fascinating review on why we play and how gamification enhances learning and wellness!

Coach Woodenism for the Week:"Loyalty is part of human beings higher nature. It is also part of the nature of great teams and those who lead them". In this blog series, we are applying legendary Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success to medical education. As coaches and trainees, we began by adding the cornerstones of Attitude and Effort, followed by the Friendship block of the Pyramid's foundation. A colleague of mine asked me last week, "How does creating a successful sports team translate into clinical medicine?". Check out the terrific article in BMJ "Teams, tribes and patient safety: overcoming barriers to effective teamwork in healthcare" by Jennifer Weller.  You'll learn that poor team work in medicine actually increases patient mortality, creates waste, and reduces professional satisfaction. And you'll review strategies to improve team communication in clinical medicine - similar concepts are described in the blocks of Coach...

Inspirational and thought provoking TED talk on the real problems facing our patients. Finally, someone has the courage and conviction to begin to take on the fundamental issues that really prevent our patient from being well. Thank you Rebecca Onie!

Harvard Business School's Linda Hill describes her team's research into the innovation behind Pixar and other pioneering corporations. For a leader today, success is no longer just about defining a vision and achieving goals. Instead, creating innovation requires a leader to first invert the organizational pyramid by setting the stage for others to walk upon, with a common goal, shared values, and clear rule of engagement. Next, the innovative leader encourages open and honest horizontal collaboration, continuous discovery driven learning, and integrative decision making. Check out the TED Talk and the her book too - great read!

Provocative TED Talk on defining your own definition of success in today's world. Check it out!